Monday, November 18, 2019

November 18, 2019 - Listen to the Coach, not those in the stands!


Coaching was always a challenge… not just because of the different personalities of players, but also because of the different personalities of parents… Parents obviously have a vested interest in their kids and want them to shine. Unfortunately, what parents don’t have is an inside track on what has been taught in practices or stated in the huddle on the sideline. As a result, I often had parents yelling for their kids to do things that didn’t line up with my plan as the coach…

Most of the time it was simply parents getting excited and wanting their kids to succeed… other times the parents thought they knew more than me as the coach; (there may have even been times they were right… yet I often think of the late Coach Don Myers who stated that if coaches want to get rich they should buy kids for what they are worth and sell them for what their parents think they are worth…)

Bottom line was that whether they meant well or not, my rule was that for our team the players should listen to me, not to voices in the stands. Just because those in the stands are cheering for you, if what they are saying does not line up with what the coach is saying, then no matter what their motivation, they are wrong!

In life, like in a game, there will be any voices trying to tell you what to do. At some point you have to determine if you are going to listen to those voices or to the voice of the Coach (God.) You have to determine if you can trust God and His Word (which of course means you need to know His Word.)

Sin is simply the result of not believing what God said and instead thinking we know a better way…

In Genesis 3 we see sin entering the human race… we see the serpent questioning “did God really say” that (vs 1) and then, after planting a seed of doubt in Adam’s and Eve’s minds, flat out stating the God was not right. (vs 4) The serpent went on to give the truth behind sin, that it is man trying to “be like God!” (vs 5)

Have you ever thought about sin in that way? It is when we think we know better than the Coach… and in this case, the Coach is never wrong. If God has given instruction, it is because He knows what is best for our “game” of life.

Be careful to not listen to the cheers of those that don’t know what the Coach has said in preparation for the game! Stop looking to the stands of life for approval or disapproval, and instead focus on the Word of the Coach! He is on our side! (I recently read the following statement, and have used it when preaching a couple of times, God hates sin BECAUSE He loves the sinner! He simply wants our best!

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